by E. G. Foley
But then, a Guardian was not supposed to have a sweetheart, either. It was thought that such romantic attachments would only distract the Order’s warriors from their missions. It was not quite forbidden, but definitely frowned upon.
In any case, the carriage could only hold six people, so Miss Helena had come down ahead of them the day before, bringing a large trunk of fancy gowns with her, not just for Isabelle to wear throughout the Gathering, but also a few specific, long, dinner gowns that Izzy’s mother, Lady Bradford, couldn’t fit into her baggage.
No doubt the governess had not minded her task of delivering the dresses, since it would likely give her some time to be alone with her not-boyfriend, Derek.
“Oh, there are your parents!” Gladwin said brightly, pointing toward the art gallery.
“Mother! Father!”
Instantly, Isabelle and Archie went rushing off to see the terribly glamorous Uncle Richard and Aunt Claire, Lord and Lady Bradford. They did not get to see their parents very much, since they were often traveling as diplomats for the Order.
Jake and Dani hung back, remaining with Aunt Ramona and still waiting for Henry to return with their room keys.
As Archie and Isabelle ran to hug their parents, Jake could not deny feeling a twinge of—well, not exactly jealousy. Insecurity, perhaps. It was a pointed reminder that he had no mother and father to cheer him on in his Assessment.
No sign of Derek. No time to go and see Red beforehand…
He didn’t realize he was scowling about it until Dani elbowed him. “Would you stop looking like you’re chewin’ on a toothache? You’ll be fine.”
“Easy for you to say! You don’t have to do this.”
“Oh, thanks for that reminder that I’m just a plain, boring, ordinary person.”
“You know that’s not what I meant,” he said at once.
She humphed. “Calm down already. You’ve got nothing to worry about, Jake. I mean, c’mon! This silly test is nothing compared to some of the stuff you’ve already done. You bested Loki, for goodness sake, a Norse god!”
“Thor bested him. I just stood there trying not to get killed,” he said morosely.
“What about our visit to Wales, then? You blew up Garnock the Sorcerer! The very founder of the Dark Druids!”
“Shhh!” Jake shushed her with a glare.
Thankfully, Aunt Ramona was greeting a friend and had not heard her say it.
He leaned toward her, lowering his voice. “We’re not supposed to mention that, remember? Mind your tongue, carrot!”
“Sorry! If I was you, I’d be braggin’ about it to the whole bloomin’ world.”
“Yes, but that would get me killed.” Jake usually relished bragging, but in this case, he saw how it could be unhealthy. “Aunt Ramona doesn’t want the Dark Druids tracing that bit o’ business back to me.”
Dani sighed. “Don’t worry, I’m not goin’ to tell anyone. I’m just sayin’. If you can get through that, your Assessment’s easy-breezy.”
“We’ll see.” Jake hoped she was right. Even if she wasn’t, her words made him feel a bit better.
Then Henry beckoned to them, their room keys dangling from his hand.
“Here we are, children,” Aunt Ramona said, spotting the tutor. “This way.”
Jake followed at once, desperate for a quiet moment of solitude in his room to prepare himself for the test ahead.
# # #
Following him, Dani paused, still glancing around in wonder at all the varieties of Magic-folk, when she suddenly noticed a peculiar-looking girl about her own age who had just arrived.
With pale white skin and jet-black hair, the girl was dressed all in black, from the spiky bow in her raven hair, to her knee-length taffeta dress, to her black wool stockings and lace-up boots. She had arrived alone, no parents, no servants, no friends with her.
Clutching the black satchel on her shoulder rather like Archie’s ever-present tool-bag, the girl glanced behind her with an uneasy air, dark circles under her eyes. Suddenly, she jumped as though startled, and warded off one of the little gnomes who offered to carry her bag for her.
Dani watched as she refused the help, shaking her head with a none-too-friendly glare at the waist-high gnome.
After her brief pause in the doorway, the girl headed for the butler’s table—presumably to collect her room key.
“’Oy, carrot!” Jake called. “Hurry up! We’re leaving!”
Dani shook off her distraction, glared at him for calling her that in public, then hurried after the blockhead and his aunt.
# # #
Nixie Valentine was utterly exhausted. She could not believe she had to have her Assessment in such a frazzled, sleep-deprived state.
Finally reaching the front of the line, she accepted her room key from the butler. She headed on her way, glad to leave the entrance hall. The crowd was getting on her nerves. She dragged herself up the grand staircase and followed the stupid printed map until she finally found her room down some distant hallway on the fourth floor of the east wing. Unlocking the door, she leaned over the threshold for a wary look around before she stepped inside.
With only one foot in the doorway, she nearly moaned aloud at the sight of the big, beautiful, fluffy canopy bed waiting for her.
Sleep!
“Hullo, gorgeous,” she mumbled to it. Then, satisfied there were no traps laid for her, she walked in, dropped her bag, and just stared at the waiting bed.
Of course she didn’t dare lie down yet. If she did, she would probably sleep through the whole Gathering and miss her Assessment. She shook her head firmly. Later.
A glorious long nap would be her reward once she had got through her Assessment.
Already Nixie felt lighter, now that she had reached Merlin Hall, with all the powerful spells protecting its borders.
The Bugganes would not find her here.
True, those little meddling gnomes gave her the creeps. But at last, she might actually be safe. The things that hunted her surely could not sneak past the Long Man…
Could they?
With a hard swallow, Nixie cast a nervous glance around the perimeter of the pretty bedchamber she had been assigned. Should she bother putting salt across the doorway and the windowsills? she wondered.
Not that it ever really helped.
No, she decided. Her little witch-in-training spells were nothing compared to the old, old magic that enveloped Merlin Hall. She told herself to relax. At least to try.
She was safe here, surely. Besides, the pretty chamber she had been assigned was loads nicer than the musty corner of the gypsy wagon where she usually slept.
Merlin Hall would protect her.
Maybe she might even make a friend.
Well, probably not, she amended. She didn’t dare, actually. She could not tell anyone her secrets. The curse the hag had put on her was real. She had learned that the hard way.
Anybody who tried to make friends with her was only courting doom.
At least now, here at Merlin Hall, she could get knowledge that might help her solve her problem. Learn new spells. Find some way she hadn’t tried before to escape the torment that had become her life.
Feeling a glimmer of hope for the first time in months, Nixie took a deep breath, then took out the uniform and changed into it, grimacing at having to wear white. But once she was dressed in the required garb for her test, she got her best wand out of her black bag.
Gripping it like a weapon, she headed for the door.
With one last, longing glance over her shoulder at the lovely bed with its sweet promise of sleep, she steeled herself and stepped out, heading for the maze.
It was time to go and dazzle the Elders—because, actually, she was pretty good at magic.
Maybe a little too good.
Much to her regret.
CHAPTER THREE
The Proving Ground
“This way, children!” A short while later, Aunt Ramona beckoned them on. The opening
of the giant maze yawned before them. As Her Ladyship marched ahead, they had no choice but to follow.
Jake managed to keep his jittery nerves under control as they joined the crowd of guests streaming into the great, green labyrinth.
The adults wore finery fit for a Sunday afternoon picnic in the park or a bit of seaside frivolity, the gents in patterned promenade suits and jaunty straw boater hats, the ladies sporting an astonishing collection of wide-brimmed, complicated bonnets.
With the festival atmosphere enlivening the sunny afternoon, an observer might have thought the well-dressed spectators were hurrying on to watch a polo match or some long-awaited game of cricket.
A few of the kids, however, including Jake, wore the athletic garb required for the Assessment: a simple uniform of tan boots, loose-fitting ivory trousers (or skirts for the girls) to allow ease of movement, a white shirt, and a brightly colored sash tied around the waist to signify the category of supernatural talents the candidate possessed.
Several people, seeing his clothes, smiled and wished him luck as they progressed through the labyrinth. Some raised an eyebrow to note the two colored sashes tied around his waist: blue for his gifts as a medium, red for his telekinesis.
On Henry’s advice, he had twisted them together like a rope before knotting them at his hip. The loose ends fluttered in the breeze like battle pennants as he walked.
In any case, Jake tried not to feel too irked at all the fun everyone else seemed to be having when, for him and the other candidates, this was all but life or death. Tension was giving him a headache, so he was grateful for the shade the towering shrubbery walls cast as they followed the flow of the crowd.
The grassy aisles inside the maze were so broad that there was room for eight or ten people walking abreast. Of course, this depended on what sort of people.
Dani discreetly held her nose when they found themselves downwind of the horsetail end of a few centaurs. Archie elbowed her and gave the carrot-head a scolding look.
“What?” Dani retorted while Isabelle fought a giggle and hid her face behind the striped pink parasol she was using to protect her milky complexion from the sun.
“Behave,” Henry warned from behind them. He was bringing up the rear to make sure they did not lose anybody along the way.
Jake was grateful for that. It would have been very easy to get lost in the maze if one wandered off; his nervousness had quickly left him disoriented as the paths twisted this way and that.
Fortunately, Aunt Ramona knew the way well. Of course, if they had got separated from her, the small, wizened gnomes posted at the intersections were helping to guide people, blocking them from going the wrong way.
As their group turned a corner into another aisle that looked exactly like the last one, Aunt Ramona explained how the maze had helped to keep the Old Yew safe for many years. Even if someone with ill intents managed to penetrate the labyrinth, the intruder was not likely to get out alive.
While she went on describing the various magical and mechanical devices designed to protect the old father tree and his eldest tree children who lived in the center, it dawned on Jake that she never talked this much—and when he heard a thunderous cheer erupt from somewhere beyond the green walls ahead, he realized, aghast, that she was merely trying to distract him.
The noise got louder with every step. Jake’s stomach promptly clenched with dread. Obviously, the audience today was larger than he had anticipated, judging by the roar of the crowd.
A cold sweat broke out across his forehead. For a second, he felt like a gladiator waiting to be sent up into the Coliseum to fight a wild boar. Blimey, it sounded like a small stadium full of spectators in there.
And, in fact, it was.
Sure enough, to Jake’s surprise (or perhaps, horror), the next turn revealed a huge, grassy lawn in the center of the maze, its borders clearly marked with thick chalk lines. Inside the Field of Challenge, an elaborate magical obstacle course had been set up.
This took him greatly by surprise and brought a fresh surge of anxiety, but he let his gaze travel on. Bleachers lined the long ends of the field. The seats were packed with cheering people—parents, family, friends of the poor souls facing their Assessments.
The side of the field nearest the entrance—where Jake and his companions currently stood—was left clear of seating, so that spectators could have some room to mill about, and more easily come and go.
But on the far end, the Elders in their long, ceremonial robes were seated with the VIPs in the shade on both sides of the towering Old Yew.
Jake realized they had built the Field of Challenge around the “Father Tree” so he could watch all the goings-on. When Jake spotted Queen Victoria and her entourage arrayed in a place of particular honor right next to the Old Yew, he felt the blood drain from his face.
Great. The Queen herself, along with her court followers, would be watching his every move. He slowly scanned the sea of faces.
He was not a shy lad, per se, nor did he lack confidence on the whole. But by Jove’s elbow, he had not expected an audience anywhere near this large, and no one had said anything to him about this insane obstacle course.
It took everything in him not to turn around and flee.
Of course, he’d probably end up getting lost in the maze, with his luck, he thought, his pulse pounding. Well, he refused to disgrace his parents’ memory with a show of cowardice.
Oh, yes, he was well aware that everyone was curious about him because of the strange circumstances of his life, how he had gone missing as a baby after his parents’ murders and how he had finally been found again. No doubt all the world wanted to get a look at him, which made him feel doubly pressured to impress them all.
With a slight gulp, Jake prayed the earth would open up and swallow him.
It refused. All he could do was remind himself that he had to go through this if he wanted to become a Lightrider someday. Indeed, there might be a few Lightriders watching in the stands even now.
Another reason to conduct himself to the best of his ability, Jake thought. He had never met a real, live Lightrider before, but Aunt Ramona said he might be introduced to one or two at some point during the Gathering. Shoring up his courage, Jake thrust self-doubt out of his mind as best he could and followed his kin.
With Aunt Ramona leading the way and Henry in the back, they headed for the bleachers.
“Your Ladyship, they have a chair for you over there with the other Elders,” the tutor called, pointing.
“Thank you, Henry, but I wish to stay with my nephew for now. I shall join my colleagues later.”
Jake sent the old woman a grateful smile.
She put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “Up there. Where the gnome’s waving to us, see?”
More gnomes posted around the bleachers were serving as ushers, though they were barely tall enough to manage the steps. One was beckoning them to an empty bench a few levels up. Aunt Ramona lifted the hem of her long, ruffled skirts and proceeded up the steps, leading the way to the seats the gnome had found for them.
Jake let the girls go ahead of him, finally learning to have some manners. Archie’s influence, no doubt.
Walking up the bleacher stairs, Jake warily eyed the long rows of fashionable humans and magic-folk that he passed. The crowd seemed reasonably friendly and supportive, clapping for the unfortunate lad who was currently enduring his Assessment on the Field of Challenge.
Jake paid him little mind as they reached their seats. The gnome had directed them to a spot near a family of shapeshifters. Although they looked like ordinary people at first glance, the truth soon became obvious, thanks to the antics of their horrid children: triplets—two boys, one girl—about ten years old.
The young shapeshifters had no interest whatsoever in the Assessment in progress. Instead, they kept turning themselves into half-human half-skunks and torturing everyone around them with their wild laughter and squabbling.
Unfortunately for Da
ni, she was sitting closest to them, and it wasn’t long before the pests took an interest in the redhead.
She didn’t even notice at first, but eventually she sensed them: three beady pairs of eyes looking curiously at her, studying her in devilish speculation.
Sizing her up.
She tried very hard to ignore them. She was good at ignoring people when she tried. Jake knew that firsthand.
Several minutes later, she let out a startled yelp.
Jake looked over, wondering what they had done to her. Apparently somebody had pulled her hair. When she turned around and glared at them, the shorter boy stuck his tongue out at her. Then, laughing, they all three turned themselves into full-fledged skunks and ducked out of sight, snickering at their own antics.
“Try that again!” she warned them, holding up a fist.
Jake rolled his eyes and shook his head. He didn’t have time to worry about that. Dani could take care of herself. Still, it was too bad the skunkies’ parents were oblivious, eagerly absorbed in the Assessment.
Jake put the troublemakers out of his mind and focused on getting the lay of the land. Right, he told himself after a minute or so. This ain’t so bad. If that mumper out there can do it, so can I.
“Egads!” Archie lifted his telescope to his eye. He never went on an adventure without it. The king of gadgets always took his whole trusty tool-bag with him, just in case.
Before Jake could ask what Archie was egads-ing about, Isabelle snatched the telescope out of her brother’s hand, to everyone’s surprise. “Let me see that!”
Sitting up primly with the parasol in one hand, she lifted the telescope to her eye and stared intensely at the tall, black-haired boy on the Field of Challenge.
Jake and Archie exchanged a blank look.
Such unladylike behavior was most un-Isabelle.
“I say,” she whispered rather breathlessly after a moment, the telescope glued to her face.
Jake arched a brow, but when he took the trouble to focus on the young man’s progress for himself, he saw why everyone was cheering.
